The History Squad

Oh 'dem bones

I thought you might like a sneaky peak at what I'm up to today in preparation for an upcoming video.  

Julie suggested I hang it in my 'prop' cupboard so every time I walk in I'll scare myself 😜

Behind the scenes on the John Hawkwood shoot

We've been shooting a video today about the famous medieval knight Sir John Hawkwood and thought you might like a peek behind the scenes.
It's a pretty simple set up and even our dog Rupert joins in for story time with Dad, you can just see his bed down there in the left corner. 

Julie's hoping to get Hawkwood ready and up for Friday. 👍🏻

Wow!

This milestone has crept up on us pretty quickly, just back in January 2022 we were at 5,000 subscribers.  Julie and I just want to thank you ALL for your amazing support and encouragement here on PATREON as well as your generosity, all of which keeps us going with our models and videos.   You've been amazing, so we're just raising a glass to you, and to us, to say "Cheers!! And here's to the next milestone"
THANK YOU.

A brief history of the History Squad

After a couple of requests, I thought I'd share with you how a kid from the arse end of Birmingham, an ex soldier & policeman by sheer luck, managed to carve not one, but two new careers for himself sharing the history he loves.  

If you have any questions, I'd be happy to try and answer them if you'd like to leave a note in the comments or message me directly.  

Thanks as ever for your brilliant support!

Kevin 

The Next Battlefield is Set

I don't know what's happened to the thumbnail, but click on the video and you'll see we're ready to shoot the next in our 100 Years War series, can you guess where in Europe we are?   You've got until next week to guess :-)

Let's hang out for a chat

Hi Guys!

Just a reminder for you all as we're about to send the Zoom link out.

If you happen to be free and would like to join me on Saturday 28th January at 1pm Saskatoon* time, DROP ME A MESSAGE or LEAVE A COMMENT to book in, and we'll send you the link.

It's IMPORTANT to note that some time zone websites don't show the correct time for Saskatoon, so make sure  you type "Saskatoon Time" into the Google search engine, that should give you the correct time.

I hope...

Early Access to December's Patreon Poll Video

Here it is guys & gals, John "Babbacome" Lee, the man they couldn't hang.  What a strange story.  It was fascinating doing the research to find there was so much more to the story..... conflicting evidence, thoughts and opinions etc., so here I had to just try and focus on the key elements.

I hope you enjoy it, and if you'd like to delve deeper take a look at the website:  http://murderresearch.co...

Happy New Year

Julie & I want to wish each and every one of our PATREON members a very HAPPY NEW YEAR and to thank you for your continued support here.  Without you we wouldn’t be able to create our videos, make models or source our costumes and props.

With so many more videos planned for 2023, we hope you’ll stay with us and help us grow our channel and community even more so that we can continue to bring our special brand of history to viewers on YouTube for free.

Best wishes,

A Christmas Story

Julie & I would like to wish you all  a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and take a moment to thank you for your wonderful support throughout 2022.

Here's an off the cuff story I thought I'd share with you of one of my better memories of Christmas when I was in the army in Germany back in the late 70s.

See you in 2023!

Early Access to November's Patreon Poll Video: Pirate Hicks

Hey everyone, sorry it's so late but here's the story of Hicksey the Pirate, a possible ancestor of mine.  I hope you enjoy it, I'd appreciate your feedback in the comments.  

We'll be going public on YouTube on Friday.  

Hicksey the Pirate

Hey everybody, I haven’t forgotten about our November voted video about Pirate Hicks, I’m just a little behind in our filming schedule, but I promise it’ll be up over the weekend.

Thanks for your patience!

EARLY ACCESS TO Jack the Ripper's Victims (October's Patreon Poll Video)

Hey Guys,

We’ve finally completed our October poll video, it took a lot longer than we expected, so we thought we’d give you early access before posting it publicly on YouTube later this week.

It’s a mammoth (for us) 36 minutes long, but we hope you’ll enjoy it.  Let us know what you think.

All the best,

Kevin

How I met Bernard Cornwell

A sneak peak at what's coming up this autumn.

We were out today messing about with the bow and the camera and caught some great footage to share with you on Youtube.  

Suffice to say I sacrificed a pig faced bascinet for it 😜

Bloopers

I hope you enjoy a couple of stories I've remembered and a small collection of 'bloopers' to show you what sometimes goes on behind the scenes.  

For the non-Brits amongst you..... 

Joyce Grenfell was an actress from the 50s & 60s 

and Lambert & Butler is a popular cigarette brand in Britain.

Medieval Church Paintings Revealed

When we were in the UK Julie and I visited one of our favourite churches at Burton Dassett, but this one is rather special for its original medieval paintings.  This ancient church features in the Doomsday book, so I feel very lucky to be able to share a thousand years of history with you.  

Recharging our batteries

Hi everyone, just a quickie to say we’re away for a few days recharging our batteries in the beautiful Cypress Hills in Saskatchewan.  We’ve scheduled some videos to load while we’re away, but might not be able to answer any questions or respond to comments for a while as reception is a bit sketchy.

I look forward to catching up with you all again soon.

Best, Kevin 👍

Not long now before my first 'hang out'

Remember it's Saturday 9th July, 12noon Saskatoon time.  I'll send out an email a few hours before to remind you 😉 

Hey guys,

Of course most of you aren't from Saskatchewan, so won't be joining me for cake this Thursday, so I'd like to invite you instead just to hang out  and share a beverage or two with me  (you'll have to provide your own I'm afraid though) but we can chat about history, news or whatever you like.

It would be great to meet...

WOW!! 100k Subscribers

We never would have guessed back in January when we had 4,500 subscribers that our YouTube channel would have grown as quickly as it has.

Julie and I have been blown away by the incredible support we’ve received from our Patrons and viewers and the amazing comments that we still read daily.

We love sharing history with you and hope you’ll continue with us on our journey to make more fascinating history videos.  

We'd like to show our appreciation by inviting you all...

My Favourite Archery Store

Just a quick, ad-hoc video [2:46] to show you what treasures await the archery aficionado at my favourite supplier and check out a surprise find at the end.

Thanks to Wales Archery Specialist, Crick, Wales.

My Favourite Archery Store

Just a quick, ad-hoc video to show you what treasures await the archery aficionado at my favourite archery supplier, and stick around for a surprise find at the end.

We have a treat for you coming up in June.....

A short series on arms & armour of the 15th Century.

As you might know we’ve been visiting our son Josh in the UK.  Well, Josh now has more armour and kit than I ever did as a bowman……not that I'm jealous of course.

You know it feels quite weird helping him into his armour, at 6’3 he’s still my little boy 😉

Coming soon .....

The much awaited part 8 of the Hundred Years War Series, the Battle of Poitiers is coming soon.  Filmed before I came away on holiday, as you can see it's complete with my Perry Minatures & Wizkids Terrain models 👍🏻

St Peter's Church, Radway

I don't know about you, but I love wandering around graveyards, where you can always find history written in stone ;-)  

Enjoy a slice of quintessential England with a quick visit to the village church of Radway in Warwickshire, site of the first battle of the English Civil War, where we explore a couple of notable graves.

A little teaser for our next video

Hi everyone!

We're going to be shooting part 7 of our Hundred Years War series today, and I thought I'd share a little teaser with you.  Can you guess what battle it might be?  It's a lesser known sea battle that even I hadn't heard of until 3 weeks ago, and I'm excited to be sharing it with you. (No Googling LOL)

I've had to be pretty creative with the models for this one.  I've been racking my brains on how to best illustrate the battle, and I think you're going t...

An interview with Kevin Hicks, aka the History Squad

History has shaped every single one of us, without exception, so it’s important to understand what affect it has had on us individually, as a community and as a nation so we can learn from it.

What is the History Squad and how did it come about?

The History Squad is a series of characters from history who portray what life was like for them during that period.

It all came about after I was injured as a soldier in the British Army by a bomb blast...